The Whiskered Ghoul
by DeathAmaterasu
Summary: Instead of going after Kaneki, a certain purple haired Ghoul decided to go after a lonely and abused blond haired child in the Elemental Nations. How will this alter history and the future? Strong!Naruto, Half-Ghoul!Naruto, Small-Harem!Naruto. Large AU!
1. Chapter 1

**Now, before I start this story, I want to say a few things.**

 **First, I'm pretty knew to the entire concept of Tokyo Ghoul. But, I guess it was love at first sight when I watched the anime. The second I got to the Season 1 finale, I instantly knew that I had to try an idea that I thought of.**

 **The basis of this idea is basically what if Naruto's life was much, much harder then it was in Cannon. What if Rize went to the Elemental Nations and chose Naruto to try and kill instead of going after Kaneki like she did in Cannon.**

~~~~444~~~~

In the damp streets of Konohagakure rested a boy no older seven years old. He had spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes and three whisker marks on each of his tanned cheeks. He wore a pair of ripped and dirty white shorts, a black tank top that had was ripped slightly near his collar.

He walked along the streets slowly with his bare feet dragging along as he stared down at the ground. He had a sad frown on his face as walked on the street, ignoring the hateful and disgusted looks that he got from nearly everybody around him. Whether they were male, female, old, young, civilian or ninja they all stared at him hateful and vengeful eyes.

The young boy however, knew that they were glaring at him, specifically him. He knew that they felt, after all he was able to feel their overwhelming hatred physically on an almost weekly to monthly basis.

On occasion, they would do all sorts of things to him. Of course, they did this privately, away from prying eyes and ears. They knew that the boy was in good graces with Hokage, how, they didn't know, nor did they care. They were smart with it too, they threated him after every beating or torture session with the exact same line.

'Don't tell anyone, or we'll finish the job.'

They instilled that fear into at an early age, so that would be all he knew, and he would live his childhood in fear. And so, he never was able to tell the Hokage about the beating and torture.

While the Hokage was able to catch some of the people in the act, he missed about eighty percent of those beatings and thought they only happened rarely, and it was due to that ignorance that the young boy suffered even more.

At the age of seven years old, the young boy could safely say that he hated life. It was like someone hated him from above as well he was given a shitty hand at life.

After all, he was an orphan, no one loved him, he didn't know his parents, the only person that remotely cared about him was the Hokage, who he rarely saw. He got beaten dozens of times a year and that started when he was six.

The young boy however learned one very important lesson early on that most only learned when they were adults.

'The world hates everyone. There will people who will want to kill you or the people you love just to get at you. The world is unfair, some people were blessed into a loving family… and some were not. He was an example of that.'

At the age of seven, his psych was so fragile that his mind unconsciously made him forget the pain of getting tortured after every session. He knew that it happened, but he could never recall the pain. He knew that they did, but never the feeling. That had happened when he was six and half and it was after his ninth session.

However, his tirade of dark thoughts were interrupted as he bumped into something, or rather someone. He snapped back reality when he looked up and saw a pair of caring purple eyes. He couldn't help but gasp before he took a step backwards as he closed his eyes, bracing for an attack, thinking that she would hurt him like all the others.

But… the pain never came, and he slightly opened his only to meet the same caring purple eyes that held a tint of worry in them.

"Are you alright?" She asked in sweet voice.

She was a slender girl with long purple hair, purple eyes, and an hourglass figure. She also wore black frameless glasses and white dress with sandals.

He had to admit… she was very beautiful and could stare into her eyes for what would feel like forever.

"Uh, y-yeah." He mumbled loud enough for to hear before he walked around her didn't look back.

The young woman looked at his retreating form with a look of confusion plastered on her face before she shrugged it off and she left. But, she let her gaze linger on him for a more seconds before she walked away.

~~~~444~~~~

A few days later.

A loud bang filled the air before a small figure was seen propelling through the air into a wall, denting slightly. The figure dropped to the ground like sack of potatoes. He winced in pain before he grasped on the dirt from under him before he scrapped downwards on the ground, making clawing marks in the dirt before he got on his hands knees, albeit shakily.

He breathed in and out slightly before he gasped in pain as he was kicked in the stomach, sending him tumbling onto the ground. He wheezed once more as he felt someone stomp on his stomach once more, but this was twice as hard as the kick a few seconds ago.

"C'mon, creatine stand before your betters." A commanding voice breached into the young boy's ears. He winced, but he complied. He turned over, his stomach now resting against the dirt before he shakily stood up.

A trail of blood ran down his mouth. He reached up with a trembling hand before he slowly smeared it off. However, before could react, he was punched in the stomach, causing him to double over, but before he could heel over, someone grabbed him by his hair with their hands. He was then kneed in the face, getting a loud snapping sound from the boy's face, followed by a large amount of blood that seeped through his nostrils, getting him to scream in pain.

His tormentors laughed at his pain, clearly enjoying his pained state.

"Nice shot, Bill. Man, you sure got a hell of knee. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that!" A man said in humorous and joking tone.

"Yeah, no joking! I mean look what he did to the Demon, he broke the poor son of bitch's nose with just that attack!" Another man said, just sound a bit younger then the last.

"Well, I'm not an Elite Chunin without a reason!" The attack responded in an arrogant aggressive tone, getting nods from his friends and random civilians who paid to watch.

The Elite Chunin cracked his neck and his fingers in an odd way before he reached inside his ninja pouch and pulled out a kunai. He slid his pointer finger inside the loop of it before he absently twirled it around his finger.

However, at an instant and before nearly everyone could react, the man stabbed the young blond right in the shoulder, getting a loud grunt in pain as he bit down on the inside of cheek to keep himself from screaming.

The Chunin then gripped him by the throat, hoisting him in the air with little effort before he kneed him in the stomach, getting a gasp from the youth before he tore out the kunai and slashed across the young boy's chest, causing jet of blood to erupt around his chest in the pattern in which he slashed at.

He let out a silent scream as he closed his eyes, the young blond felt warm blood pour out from his wound. He then dropped the boy, uncaring of the result as boy dropped once more like a sack of potatoes.

The man walked around, looking for something before he bent down and grasped something. He walked back and stood in front of the boy, waiting patiently for the boy to open his eyes. Soon enough, crystalline blue eyes stared up at the man with a pained expression on his face.

The man smirked cruelly, "Tell me young Naruto… what is One-thousand minus Seven?" He asked in a bone chilling tone.

The now named Naruto winced pain and confusion. Why was he getting asked to subtract One-thousand-, his thought process was cut off when he felt an incredible pain followed by a loud snapping sound.

"ARUGHHHH!" Naruto screamed loudly, getting cheers from everyone at hearing him scream in pain.

"Now, Young Naruto, don't make me break the other shin just yet… what is One-thousand minus Seven?" He asked once more with cruel laughter following suit.

~~~~444~~~~

Twelve Hours Later

Naruto walked along the alley way with his body resting along side of it, supporting his weight as he walked. His free arm and hand held his stomach, and his face contorted to one of an expression of pain. He limped across the street before he couldn't take the pain anymore before he stumbled onto the street and fell face first on the side walk, completely unconscious.

From afar, a certain purple haired woman walked out of a store, just a fifteen feet away so when she spotted a mop of familiar blood hair face down on the ground, in a pool of his blood. Seeing him in condition, she gasped and hurriedly ran over to him, dropping what ever bags she had on her.

Once she got over to him, she knelt down to him gasped in horror once more when she realized that his wounds where much worse then she could have possibly imagined.

' _Oh my K-Kami!'_ She mentally thought before she picked him up with some apparent struggle before she jogged along the sidewalk, taking him somewhere.

' _Okay, I have some medical supplies at my apartment, I'll be able to heal him there as well since it's closer to any Hospital near.'_ She thought as she ran along for a few minutes before she fished out a key and unlocked the door to her apartment.

She hurriedly closed the door and locked it before she laid him down on her large sofa, not caring about damages from the blood that sofa would receive. Then she ran into her bathroom, which was just meters away and grabbed a bag before she pulled every single medical supply she could find and slid into the bag. She rushed out of the room and knelt down to bleeding boy.

Remarkably, he was still breathing. Somehow. Had it been any other child, he or she would have died before they got half the amount of injuries and he survived it all and afterwards. Who knew how long ago he got those injuries.

She knew she had a lot of work to due if she want to save this poor boy's life… and a lot of luck as well. She took a deep breath before she got to work.

~~~~444~~~~

Three Days Later

Naruto's eyes fluttered open, revealing his normal bright blue eyes. He immediately winced, and his eyes dilated due to the sun light.

He sat up and brushed his face before he caught glimpse of his chest. His chest was wrapped up in a white medical wrap and was in a bed. In a bed… in a bed.

His eyes snapped wide open at that. He remembered passing out in the middle of the street from a mixture of exhaustion and pain.

Just then, he heard the door, revealing a beautiful purple haired woman with bright purple eyes. He blinked in surprised before he remembered where he'd seen her before.

"You're the lady that I bumped into… you saved me…" His trailed off, nothing more than a whisper. But, surprisingly the woman heard him smiled upon hearing and seeing him awake.

"Yup, I found you passed out in the street in a pool of your own blood. I knew I had to do something, so I just did what was right." She trailed off with a kind smile.

"No, you actually saved my life… you're the first person besides the old Hokage who's ever been nice to me." He mumbled, clearly not comprehending that another person would actually help someone _like him_.

Her smile faltered a little when she heard that before she smiled. "C'mon into the living room if you can move, I made some coffee. If you can't, I can bring it to you." She said gently.

His eyes widened in disbelief. For the first time, he looked her in the eyes. "You really want someone like me… being in your house and drinking coffee with you?" He asked, truly puzzled and confused. However, he still kept himself guarded. He never knew if she was just leading him into a trap.

The lady didn't bothered by the question. In fact, she smiled wider and eye smiled. "If I didn't want you here, I wouldn't have healed you and saved your life. After all, if I was anything like _those_ people, I would have left you to die. I think that proves my motives." She said, giving some solid reasons and facts that Naruto couldn't really deny.

He kept still a few more seconds while looking at his covered feet before he let out a sigh. "Sure, I'd… I'd like some coffee." He smiled slightly. It wasn't like happy smile… more like a forced and brittle smile.

Seeing his acceptance, she gestured him to follow her, in which he responded with sliding out of bed, only to fall onto his knees after an immediate pain followed suit. He gasped in pain before he looked at his chest, in which blood already started staining the bandages.

The woman gasped before he ran over to him helped him back onto the bed. "Troublesome boy." She muttered, but she did have a small smile.

"Yeah… I guess I cant quite move just yet." He coughed in embarrassment, already ignoring the hot pain in his chest, after all it was nothing he hadn't felt before.

"I would have to say that was my fault, I should've known." She chuckled a little bitterly at her mistake.

However, Naruto just chuckled sheepishly before he grinned a little.

"Nah… I should've realized that I was in too much pain… but I guess I got a little excited over having something to drink with someone that doesn't actually want to kill me." He grinned tiredly.

"Here, let me change the bandages and fix your stiches and I'll bring in the coffee and we'll drink in here, how about that?" She asked with a smile. Naruto perked up a bit before he nodded.

She patiently and carefully undid the bandages, carful not cause even more damage to the stiches. _'Okay… we got lucky there, it's only the tip that came undone. Simple to redo and fix.'_ She mentally noted before he shot out her sowing kit and carefully looped the threads with a needle while Naruto drifted off to sleep, being none the wiser.

After about twenty or so minutes, she finished everything and left to go grab the hot beverages. She came back with a small plate and two cups of slightly warm brown coffee. She sat it down a little loud, getting Naruto to jolt awake.

He winced once more as his eyes adjusted to the light before he turned over to her to that she was smiling.

"Good morning… once again." She giggled, getting a sheepish laugh from Naruto. "Remember, don't be to quick to move, just go slowly." She instructed with a slightly serious look, getting a nod from the boy.

He twirled around slowly before he prompted himself out of the bed in a limp before he walked over to the chair and gently sat down.

"Not bad."

"Thanks…" He mumbled as he stared at the coffee. "Hey… Can I ask you a question before we drink?" He asked slightly nervously. She looked at him a confused look before she nodded.

"Absolutely!"

"Do you mind telling me you're name?" Naruto asked as he looked away.

She looked at before she giggled to herself. "I'm such an idiot; I got so preoccupied with _this_ and I forgot to introduce myself." She giggled once more before she reached over with her hand.

"Hi, my name's Rize… nice to meet you."


	2. Remembering

**Now, I realized something about Ghouls and it kinda slipped my mind as I continued to watch the anime. I realized that weapons like knives couldn't hurt Ghouls. So, I thought that would normally count kunai and swords as well. But, I decided to make an exception to this. Instead, any civilian wielding a weapon can hurt a Ghoul. But, if a Shinobi or any creature of higher power uses a weapon, he or she can hard Ghouls. I found that if I made it to where no one could hurt him with kunai and other weapons, then that would make Naruto way too OP, at least way to early.**

 **Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with OP or Godlike MC's, in fact I love them. But, I want to take things as slow as possible with this, and have Naruto grow in power, summarily to how Kaneki did, just different.**

~~~~444~~~~

 **Six Months Later**

In the past months, Naruto's life had taken a turn for the better. Instead of constantly wondering the streets looking for food and water, he actually was given help. From Rize of course. His torture had also come to a stop, surprisingly. Every time they actually caught him, Rize would come and pop up out of no where and scare them off. Naruto had absolutely no idea how she always knew that he was in trouble or how she constantly terrified his tormentors. Every time he asked, she would just smile jovially and tell him, _'You'll understand someday. Who knows, that day may come sooner than you expect.'_ That's all she said on the subject.

He never would have thought that his life would really get better. In fact, he always thought that it would get progressively worse, which is what would have happened if Rize never showed up.

Hell, the Hokage even accepted her as his guardian. And boy was he happy and relieved. After all, the old Hokage loved the boy and so, he wanted nothing more then the best for the boy. But, rules were rules and he couldn't adopt Naruto. No matter how much he wished to.

Naruto even begun to think of her as a mother figure. But, he would never tell her that. Not out of embarrassment, but out of his own paranoia. While he trusted Rize more then anyone in the Village, even more so then the old Hokage. She was his everything, his guardian angel. She never allowed him to get hurt. But, even with all of that, he never got out the part of him that felt nothing more then distrust.

Today though… would change everything.

~~~~444~~~~

Rize and Naruto walked along sidewalk of Konoha. They ignored the hateful glares and the looks of disgust.

They walked over to walked looked like a mini sized trailer that had a man standing behind it dressed in a weird get up. The small trailer had a small umbrella drilled onto it, shading the man from the hot sun.

The man's friendly eyes and expression into a mini scowl until he saw the woman narrow her eyes as her eyes changed colors just for a split instant, getting the man to stiffen. He lightly shivered before he put on a incredibly fake smile and raised a shaky hand as he waved 'friendly'.

"H-Hello, may I have, you're, uh, order?" He asked shakily.

Naruto paid no mind at all, neither did Rize as it seemed.

She nudged him slightly, getting him to look up at her. "What flavor do you want, eh Naruto-kun?" She asked in a gentle tone.

He stepped up on his tippy toes and peered over, not really seeing the man narrow his eyes for a quick second before he caught the glimpse of the same woman who narrowed her eyes in a threating manner, silently warning him not to do anything stupid. It certainly did the trick as he stiffened once more and smiled shakily.

"Umm, how about Mint Chocolate Chip?" He said in a slightly unsure tone, getting a smile from the purple eyed woman.

"I'll have the same." She told them, getting a rapid nod as he reached inside his trailer and scooped out some light green ice cream with lots of chocolate chip in it. he grabbed two cones before he put two scoops of ice cream in each.

"That will be 968.25 yen." He told her, getting a nod as she handed him the appropriate amount before they grabbed their cones and walked away, not really wanting to be in his presence any longer.

They both walked along the street and into a grassy fielded area as they both happily ate their Ice Cream. They stood under a large tree for a few seconds as Naruto kept eating his Ice Cream silently as he stared up in sky, peacefully watching the clouds pass through.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, a dark red glowing appendage snaked its way out of Rize's back and through the grass without any sound. Suddenly, it shot forward with such speed that was barley traceable to the naked eye and violently pierced right through Naruto's chest.

His eyes widened as he felt a burning hot pierced his chest. He shakily looked and dropped his Ice Cream in shock as he saw a large red, ominously glowing tail-like object piercing through his chest.

Before he could do anything, a large glob of blood worked it's way up his throat as he started chocking before he coughed the blood up, causing some to trail down his chin and mouth.

He slowly looked around, and his eyes widened once more, but this time in pure shock and hurt.

There was Rize… smirking sadistically and shockingly enough… both of her eyes were glowing red and black. Flowing behind her was three more glowing red tentacle-like things.

"R-R-R-Rize-chan!?" He stuttered in complete disbelief and hurt, getting a blood thirsty chuckle.

"Oh? Don't tell me your surprised, eh Naruto-kun? Don't get me wrong, I don't hate you like those other Ningen's." She smirked. "No… your just a tasty looking meal!" She laughed.

Naruto coughed once more before he raised his shaking hands up to the tentacle stuck in his chest before he tightly grasped onto it, try to push it out. He gritted his teeth in absolute pain before he thrusted himself outwards, sending himself falling onto the ground. On the bright side, he was free… now all he had to do was get away…

His train of thought was interrupted when another sharp pain stabbed through his stomach and the back of his thigh, getting a loud scream from him.

Naruto closed his eyes and chuckled, getting confused look from his attacker.

"What are you laughin' about?" She asked with gritted teeth.

"Oh! It's n-nothing. It's just that I die by the person I trusted the most." He laughed, getting a wide eyed look. "It's i-ironic really… I promised that I would never trust anyone… yet look at me!" He continued laughing, spitting blood at he continued. Rize continued to watch in interest. However, this shocked her right down to the core. "And now… I'll die a-at t-t-t hands of w-who I-I thought of as a-a-a MOTHER! HA!" He laughed really hard at that before his breathing slowed down and he abruptly stopped laughing. A long tear slipped down his eye, the second time he'd ever cried.

"I'm such a stupid child…" He whispered before he passed out.

Rize honestly didn't know how to feel. Originally, she thought this would be easy. After all, this was just another meal… then why… then why did her heart hurt so bad… then why was she crying… then why wasn't she hungry anymore.

However, before she could even think about it any longer, a slick and loud cutting sound was heard, and the giant tree started tipping forward. Rize, who was in shock could even think to dodge. All she did was go off of instinct and push the dying boy's body out of the way with her Kagune she looked up and barley had time to move.

But, she couldn't move out of the completely and she was crushed. Surprisingly, only half of her body was crushed from the giant tree and she was still conscious.

Just then, several men in all black jumped down from who knows where and kneeled down to her. She reached up with her single available arm and looked up to an old looking man with her one visible eye.

"P-P-Please… s-save him!" She stuttered, getting a firm nod from the man.

"I was planning to." Was all the man said in a stoic tone before he slipped his arm across. "Begin the organ transplant." He ordered, his men, who all nodded in complete obedience.

The only thing Rize saw a hand covering her face before she died, with regrets and hopes that Naruto would live.

~~~~444~~~~

"Mizuki-sensei, I got the scroll dattebayo! Does that me I pass, eh!?" Said a hyper young voice in a forest as he carried a large scroll that was easily as tall his own body.

The young man was short, shorter then average for someone his age. He had bright blond hair, three whisker marks on each of his tanned cheeks. He also had bright blue eyes that lit like stars in the night sky. He wore a bright, hideous orange and bright blue jumpsuit that pretty dirty and slightly torn. He wore a bright and excited grin on his whiskered face.

Said Sensei stood on a tree with his arms crossed his chest. Mizuki had pearl white, shoulder-length hair with a slight blue tint to it. He wore the standard attire for a Konoha-nin with his forehead protect on his forehead. On his back, were two large windmill shuriken.

He smirked silently before he jumped off the tree and landed silently, standing from in front the short blond boy.

"Good… now hand over the scroll, Naruto-kun." He 'ordered' gently as he reached out his hand.

Naruto slowly handed it over to him, but just as he got in arms reach, a kunai sailed through the air and landed right in between the too. Naruto jolted back in surprise and in a small amount fear. Mizuki, however snapped his head over to where that came from and surprisingly it was Iruka standing on a tree with a stern expression on his face.

"Mizuki, don't you even think about it!" Iruka told him before he set his sights at Naruto who looked like he was a dear caught in headlights. "I'm disappointed in you Naruto. Stealing the hidden scroll just so you could pass something you failed." He shook his head.

Naruto growled, surprising the two. "You don't know anything, Iruka-sensei! I passed! I stole the hidden scroll, Mizuki-sensei said so!" He yelled back, getting a wide eyed stare from Iruka who understood now.

"Not only did you betray Konoha… you also had the nerve to bribe Naruto to steal the scroll just, so you wouldn't get you're hands dirty. Despicable."

Mizuki smirked before he scoffed at the brown haired Chunin. "You're a fool, Iruka! You hate the little shit just as much as I do! Why are you defending him!?" He yelled out in confusion.

Naruto eyes widened at hearing that before he stared down at his feet.

"Hell you took part of the riots along with me, you hypocritical bastard!" He continued, getting Naruto's eyes to widen even further as he felt his head start to hurt.

"Shut up, Mizuki!" Iruka shouted in outrage.

"Why though!? We hate the fox equally, so why defend him? Answer me Iruka, WHY?!" Mizuki shouted back with just as much force.

' _Fox?'_ Naruto thought as another jolt of pain hit his brain. He stumbled back in surprise when he lightly grasped his head. On the back of his hand, something started glowing an ominous grey.

' _W-What the hell!?'_ Naruto thought he tried to take a step forward, only to stumble backwards, almost falling onto his ass.

"Shut it, Mizuki!" Iruka warned with a deathly serious tone, not really paying attention to Naruto, as he was fully focused on Mizuki.

Mizuki grinned sickly before he looked at Naruto, not caring what he was doing. "Hey! Naruto-kun!" He shouted to boy, winced and looked up, trying to ignore the pain as best as possible.

Iruka knew Mizuki was up to something, but he was completely caught off guard at what he said next.

"Tell me… do you ever wonder why your hated? Why your despised and why you were abandoned by your parents?" Mizuki asked with a sick, demented grin on his face.

Naruto momentarily forgot about the pain and it suddenly felt like he and Mizuki were the only ones in the forest. "Yeah, I ask that question myself every day." Naruto responded robotically, like he was hypnotized.

"Mizuki NO!" Iruka screamed, but before he could do anything, Mizuki continued.

"It's because of what happened the night of your birth… the night of October Tenth. Tell me… what happened then?" Mizuki asked.

"The Kyuubi attacked." Naruto answered instantly. Practically everyone over the age of Ten knew that.

"Now… tell me… how was the situation handled."

"The Yondaime Hokage saved the day and killed the Fox." Naruto answered once more.

"Now… that's where you're wrong." Mizuki told him.

Iruka was paralyzed, he knew he could have done something, and he should've done something… but he couldn't he just watched, completely frozen.

"The Yondaime Hokage didn't kill it… no, no mortal man can a kill a Biju, so he did the next best thing… he sealed inside someone." Mizuki started, getting Naruto to look up at him in complete shock.

Slowly, a not of dread coiled in his stomach and his head started pounding once more.

"Don't you get it!" Mizuki shouted wildly. "He sealed it into YOU. YOU'RE THE KYUUBI REBORN!" He screamed loudly, causing Naruto to freeze up.

All of a sudden, Naruto started shaking. It started slow and soft, but it quickly grew into spasms that shouldered out through his entire body. Naruto felt as if his head was about to explode from pain… but he didn't react. No, he just stood there… completely shocked.

"NOW DIE!" Mizuki screamed, spitting saliva from his mouth as he threw a windmill shuriken. In a flash of brown, Iruka was right in front of Naruto with his arms and legs spread out widely, shielding him.

In only a split second, the shuriken hit and impaled Iruka in the chest, getting blood to erupt from his chest, right where it hit.

Iruka choked up glob of blood before he hacked it up and fell to the side, unconscious.

Just then… Naruto's world went black.

~~~~444~~~~

There were a lot of things that had Naruto thinking. Especially thinking about if his parents loved him or not. Now he understood. They didn't. After all, what loving parent sacrifices their own child to hold a Demon?

He felt an odd sense of understanding though. At least for a few short seconds. However, something puzzled him was what he was seeing.

He saw himself walking along road in clothes that he never wore.. at least from he could remember. It was like he seeing things through his own eyes.

But, he was then grabbed and dragged into alley, something he never remembered happening. It was two people… both male. They both had a weapon in their hands, one had a wrench and another one had a rusted out kunai.

What happened next shocked him to the core. They stabbed him… and he felt it. He felt the rusted texture of the kunai as it was driven into leg. He felt the wrench collide with his knee, nearly shattering his kneecap.

The pain caused him to scream… but he didn't scream through his own body. It's like he screamed in his head. But, he opened his mouth… but his past self-opened his own, but he screamed differently. They both screamed in absolute agony as they both felt the pain. However, it looked like it hurt a lot more now then it did his past self, as he only screamed for a brief time. But, he screamed at least three times as long.

The torture carried on and Naruto screamed louder each time.

…And so… he lost track of time.

How long had it been?

He didn't know. He lost count a long time ago.

How many times did he get his guts cut open? He lost count.

How many times did he get his nails pulled out? Too many times to count, even if he did remember.

How many concussions did he get? He didn't know… maybe that was reason he couldn't track the time or count how times he did this or that. Nah!

How many fingers did he loose? Not enough to count on two hands.

How many times was he forced to eat dirt or another chemical or poison? Enough that his sense of taste was all fucked up.

How many times did he get his teeth pulled? Enough to fill three large buckets. Or maybe enough to fill five. No, he could have sworn it was eight.

How many times did they boil skin off to the bone on his hands or feet? Too many times.

How long ago was it when he almost stopped feeling pain? Six, maybe seven months.

He then remembered her… Rize. That was her name. He remembered how she was his everything. His savior. His best friend. His Healer. His therapist. Even his Mother. But… if that was all true… then did she betray him. His everything betrayed without a second thought. All because he was… a good meal? Something that he didn't understand. But, he also understood. Weird how that worked, huh?

Somehow, this one word kept getting repeated in his head.

 **Ghoul**

 **Ghoul**

 **Ghoul**

 **Ghoul**

Over and over again. Nonstop. It was so annoying. Like a broken record.

There was also another thing that kept getting repeated. But it was rare for him to hear.

 **Flesh**

 **Eat**

 **Tear**

 **Kill**

In that exact order.

However… her betrayal broke something inside him. Like the final restraint. The final wall. Whatever you would like to call it. It was torn down.

And so… he broke.

~~~~444~~~~ 

"GOODBYE!" Screamed the Chunin as he wore a crazed expression on his face as he raced through hands signs before he prompted them right into front of his mouth like a funnel.

" **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" He yelled as he breathed out a large, bright orange ball of flames that stretched across six or so feet and about seven feet tall.

It sailed through the air without contest and collided with Naruto and Iruka, getting a small explosion of dust and dirt covered Mizuki's view. Almost immediately after that, steam covered the field as well.

' _That should've finished it.'_ Mizuki analyzed silently with a cruel smile.

Slowly, the smoke cleared out, revealing a standing form, one that didn't recognize completely. But, once he saw the person without the smoke obscuring the view, his jaw dropped in shock.

Standing there was Naruto… but he was different. Very different.

His hair was no longer bright blond, in fact it was stark white. His eyes remained the same, well, one of them did. His right stayed the same, but his left one changed dramatically. Gone was the bright blue iris', and he now had bright red iris'. He also had pitch black sclera and black pupils. His finger nails however changes somehow. Instead of normal colored finger nails, his were black. Pitch black. His toenails were like that as well.

While he was still wearing his orange jumpsuit, or what was left of it. His top was left in taters, and only his undershirt remained, which was dark blue. And his pants where in better shape, but not by much. His right pant leg was completely burned off, well at least up to the top of thigh. His left one was ripped in multiple places but was still intact.

While he stood at the same height as before. He stood with Iruka in a semi-bridal position while the unconscious made being none the wiser.

Mizuki while balked when he caught sight of Naruto's left eye. He took a frightful step back, snapping on a twig.

And just like that, Naruto was gone. Mizuki's eyes widened. _'Shunshin? No, that was pure speed!'_

A second later, Mizuki spotted Naruto calmly walked over a tree, nearly twenty or so feet away. He traced the boy's movements almost robotically. Naruto crouched down and carefully laid his instructor down with his head resting against the tree before he turned around, meeting Mizuki's gaze.

"NO! You cant be one of _those_!" He yelped fearfully once more.

Somehow, Naruto heard him, and he narrowed his eyes, still staring into Mizuki's fearful eyes. "One of what? A Demon? I think we've established that I was one of those." Naruto asked in a flat tone.

Mizuki was far too scared to even answer him.

"I asked you a question; what did you mean?" Naruto asked, speaking no louder than his last sentence.

Mizuki gasped before he stuttered out his answer. "N-No way y-you're a G-Ghoul!"

Naruto's narrowed his eyes even further. "What is that? A Ghoul?" He continued, remembering that was one of the words that he kept hearing in his head.

However, it looked Mizuki worked up some of his nerve. "I don't care if you are one of those cannibalizing monsters, I'll kill you anyway!" He yelled as he ran forward with a kunai in hand, and Naruto tracked him with some trouble.

Just as he heard Naruto, he thrusted out his hands, shoving the kunai forward, aiming directly for Naruto's heart.

He dodged at the last moment before Naruto reached out one his hands and palmed Mizuki's face. Before Mizuki could react, he was drilled right into the ground, head first.

Naruto sat back up and dusted his hands off before he turned his back and started walking away.

Slowly, Mizuki started moving and sat straight up with some difficulty with a burning red mark on the front of his face that was in shape of hand. He turned around and saw Naruto walked away calmly.

Seeing an opportunity, he reached over to his back grasped his last windmill shuriken before he leaned backwards and threw straight an Naruto's retreating form.

"Eat that, you danm Ghoul." Mizuki growled silently, watching the windmill shuriken with extreme anxiousness. He knew that didn't seriously injure Naruto, then he would surely lose the fight, he knew that much.

In a split second, Naruto tilted his body and literally grabbed the shuriken out of the air with his bare hand, getting a wide eyed stare from Mizuki.

The purple haired Chunin knew it was a possibility for the brat to dodge… but to blindly catch it with his bare hand and to not even look at it before doing so… it sounded impossible for someone like him… like him.

Getting up some more nerve, he got up on shaky legs and grinned cockily. "Finally showing your true colors, eh Demon?" He chuckled.

"Demon, huh?" Naruto asked in perfect monotone. "Maybe that's what I am… maybe that's why everyone hates me. But, I could care less about that." He told Mizuki, causing him to stop chuckling, realizing that his plan to anger him didn't seem to be working.

However, just as Mizuki was about retort, Naruto looked at his bleeding hand.

Mizuki smirked at hearing that, at least his hand was unusabl-,

Naruto looked at it before clenched his hand, breaking the windmill shuriken with a good deal of effort before he threw it aside, not really minding his bleeding hand.

"H-How… your hand… it should be disabled!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Naruto just looked at him with bored eyes. "Do you honest believe… after all the things this village has done to me… something like that would even remotely hurt me?" Naruto asked in monotone, but Mizuki could hear genuine confusion in his tone.

Mizuki balled his fists tightly. "Why now! Why come out of hiding NOW!?" He asked with frustration clear in his tone.

"The reason I came out of hiding? The reason I faked this? Your more of a fool then I thought if you believed that I fake being how I was." He told the Chunin in flat tone, showing that he wasn't joking around.

"T-Then h-ho-," Mizuki was interrupted.

"To be completely honest… I have no idea what happened. One minute I'm hearing you scream about how I'm a Demon and all those things… then next thing I know it, I'm reliving a life I never knew existed." He revealed, getting shocked look from the instructor.

"It appears that I somehow forgot most of my life… and those memories were replaced with fake ones. I relived every single torture… every single beating… every… single… day… each one. And slowly, but surely. I couldn't take it anymore. I was already into the faze of being numb of physical pain. But… that was physical pain, not metal pain. But… soon after all that… I broke with that too." Naruto continued in monotone. Mizuki continued listening, being in complete awe.

"That's what happened." He finished before he tilted his head out of the way, dodging a kunai slash from Mizuki, who had **Shunshined** to his location to land a lethal blow. Naruto took a step back before he reached up and grabbed his free arm squeezed his hardest on his forearm, causing Mizuki to loose his grip on his weapon. The kunai fell before Naruto used his other to catch it and in one fluid motion, he stabbed it right into Mizuki's knee.

"RaUGGhHH!" He screamed loudly in pain as his eyes closed tightly.

"It doesn't feel good… does it?" Naruto asked he gripped the man's lightly purple hair and pulled roughly on it. He pulled backwards, causing his head to fall backwards before Naruto elbowed him in the face, sending him tumbling onto the ground.

Mizuki breathed in out roughly as Naruto just stood there, continuing to look at him with his same black gaze.

"Is that all?" Was Naruto's question. "I'm disappointed." He continued. "I have no reason to be here anymore, I feel that the Hokage will be here any moment, so I have no reason to continue this pointless fight." Naruto turned his back, causing Mizuki to grit his teeth in rage.

"Go ahead and run. I know you won't get far with your injury, so I'll wait for the Hokage or whoever is with him to fish you out." Just as he finished that sentence, Mizuki **Shunshined** away.

Naruto looked back for a second before he smiled slightly. "I forgot he could do that… meh, he still wont get far." He mentally waved off his concerns of getting away.

Just then, in a whirl of leaves and wind, four figures appeared.

"Man, everyone uses that technique it seems." He said, just loud enough for them all to here.

The first to step forward was an elderly man who stood at average height. He had grey hair, wrinkles and a few dark spots under his left eye. He wore the customary red Hokage hat and he also wore a body length haori with a red, full-length kimono that is tied using a white sash.

"Young Man, where is Naruto… he's blond, he has whisker marks on cheeks and wears a… bright… orange…jumpsuit." He started with a voice full of authority and power before he slowed down, and his eyes widened in shock.

Naruto stayed motionless, having his back still shown to the new arrivals.

"Hokage-sama, what's wrong?" A woman said. She was a fairly tall woman who had a slender frame. She had light brown, pupil-less eyes. Her hair was violet and was styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She wore a tight fitting mesh body suit that covered her from her neck down to her thighs. Over that, she wore a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam and a pocket on each side, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. On her forehead rested her Konoha headband, which was partly covered by a few spiky bangs of her hair.

"Hokage-sama something isn't right. The piece of his jacket that you gave to track his sent… that same sent is right in front of us… but his sent did change, but it's still recognizable. Also, his appearance is nothing like Naruto." A woman in her late teens reported over to her shell shocked Hokage, who had a large bead of sweat running his face.

She had long brown hair which she wore in a ponytail with two locks of hair framing her face over her large, black eyes. She also wore a light shade of lipstick and has the traditional fang-like tattoos of the Inuzuka clan on both of her cheeks, in addition to a tattoo on her upper right arm that resembled a flower. She wore a form-fitting variation of the Konoha flak jacket which didn't have any chest pockets and she kept the front of her jacket unzipped, exposing her cleavage. She also wore a pair of form-fitting shorts cut just above the knee, bandages just below her tattoo and wrist-warmers.

"Are absolutely positive Hana-chan?" The old Hokage asked in utmost urgency, without taking his eyes off the white haired teen.

"I don't get it… I've never messed up this bad at tracking something down." Hana exclaimed with frustration clear in her tone.

The old Hokage sighed before he looked at her, "No Hana… you didn't make a mistake."

"But Hokage-sama if what your implying is true then that's-," She stopped abruptly as he realized what he was inferring.

"It would seem so, Hana-san." A rough, monotone voice sounded out from behind them. He had a large, imposing figure, which he complemented with a rugged head and face covered with old wounds and scars. His head was covered by his forehead protector that he used a beanie-like headgear. He also wore a dark version of a Konoha Jonin get up along with a dark blue, full body, leather, coat.

"If that's you Naruto, turn around." The old Hokage ordered in a slightly soft tone, but his tone also held seriousness.

However, Naruto made no effort to move, "You know just as much as I do, that you know it's me. So why bother?" He asked in flat tone, little emotion in his voice.

"That's an order, Naruto-kun."

Naruto didn't move instantly, but he did slightly turn around, showing his bright blue eye and some of his whisker marks. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." The old man mumbled. "I'll get to the chase, Naruto-kun… what happened?" He asked. His companions listened in carefully, wanting to know as well.

Naruto just kept staring the old man right in his eyes, before he sighed slightly. "It's been a long… long night." Was all he said before he closed his newly changed eye. He looked over to his left, seeing Iruka was still unconscious. Paying no mind to the old man or the others, he went over picked him without much effort before he turned around to face the Hokage with his left eye still closed.

"If you want a full explanation, I'll be more then happy to give it to you… But, Iruka doesn't have much time as it is. I may not be a medical expert, but I know that taking a windmill shuriken to the chest and loosing a lot of blood does cause a pretty hot fever. And I'm pretty sure you can guess what happens next." He sarcastically explained, getting wide eye stares from nearly everyone except Ibiki, who still remained stoic.

"O-Of course. We'll talk once we get to my Office." The old Hokage said and Naruto slightly nodded.

The young violet haired woman walked over to him and smirked teasingly. "You know where the hospital is, right?"

"I've been there more times the you all put together." Naruto told her in her in a flat tone, not even bothering to look at her surprised and confused face.

Deciding to ask later, she decided to tease him further. "We'll, you look pretty adamant about carrying the man, you sure you can keep up with the rest of us?" She asked, looking away with a with a teasing smile.

She felt a breeze and he was gone. Looking at his previous spot, she smirked excitedly before she too disappeared.

The old Hokage sighed heavily as rubbed his wrinkled face. "I don't like this, Hokage-sama." Ibiki spoke up, eyeing the old man seriously.

"Yes… Yes, two sadists being friends with one another." He responded to his subordinate and referring to Anko and Naruto having a competition.

"I was referring to young Naruto's change in appearance and his drastic change in character."

"Ah… yes that too."

Dead silence reigned over the field as the men thought about the new revelations and changes.

Hana just stood there, looking confused at what just happened and what she was even doing there any longer .

~~~~444~~~~

 **How'd ya guys like it?**

 **Let me know if you guys have any suggestions for the story, I'll happily consider them all.**


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